Written by Annie Barber
Photos by Monika Ottehenning
Sonia Stein is at a pivotal moment in her life. The pop artist is pregnant and about to release new music as she embarks on the next chapter of her life. Stein was born in Berlin but has called Poland, Boston, and New York home, before she settled in London, where she remains today. Her experiences living in places all across the globe have shaped the artist she is today: authentic, experimental, and honest. Having toured with with the likes of Dido, Lucy Spraggan, and James Arthur, Stein is now setting out to make her own mark on the industry. With her latest single ‘Hell Ride’, an escapist track in which Stein reminisces about the past, she has shown that she is more than ready for the challenge.
‘Hell Ride’ is an experimental pop track with catchy hooks and strong indie rock influences. The track immortalises the feeling of all-consuming love that Stein says she associates with being in her 20s. While in the studio with Bubba McCarthy and Taneisha Jackson, the group began talking about the “feeling of wanting to just give your entire life away to this crazy infatuation feeling.” The song perfectly captures that intensity and the volatility that comes along with it in its soaring vocals and layered instrumentation.
Earlier in the year, Stein released ‘Eyes’, another single from the project. So why did she pick this song in particular to be the first track from the new EP? “ I thought it just transitioned really well from my last project, ‘Blooming Season’, into this one; it felt like it could almost be on that album. And so I wanted a smooth transition rather than this new project feeling a completely new direction.” ‘Blooming Season’ was Stein’s second album, a collection of sensual, pop-driven tracks. ‘Eyes’ fits right in with its laidback sound but feels more mature. It has a retro feel with Stein’s vocals, the drums, and electric guitar taking centre stage in a song that is otherwise very stripped back and akin to the work of alternative indie rock band HAIM.
“‘Blooming Season’ was the first time I was like I want it to be written in a really short span of time and I want the imagery to feel really cohesive and [like] where I am in life,” she says. “I really tried to approach this next one kind of in a similar way and… because there was such a short amount of time in between the two projects, I didn’t want to pivot and suddenly be like and ‘now I’m doing a different genre!’ I just wanted it to feel continuous.”
Within her work and life in general, Stein commits herself to sustainability and creative repurposing: “I like to think about sustainability in a holistic way… how can my creativity feel like it sustains itself and how can I create a life that doesn’t feel like I’m burning myself out. And so I think I’m trying to approach my projects with a lot of kind of thoughtfulness about how much time and effort I’m actually willing to put into [it].” Stein touches on the ever-present pressure of being active on social media. By setting boundaries and trying to remain true to herself when promoting her music, she has found that people resonate with her content much more. In a world where people are increasingly prioritising algorithmic success at the expense of authenticity, Stein has refused to succumb to the pressures and is doing the exact opposite — and successfully, I might add.
Both ‘Eyes’ and ‘Hell Ride’ are songs from Stein’s upcoming 5 track EP. As we talk, she is still working on 3 of the songs and says that “it almost feels like they all have a sister song [with] a past project of mine.” She reveals that unreleased track ‘Ghost’ mirrors ‘Every Time Africa Plays’, which is a tribute to a friend that passed away. ‘Ghost’ is about the pair celebrating her friend’s birthday while at camp and is a touching way to keep her legacy alive. Writing the new EP allowed Stein to explore feelings that she was previously scared of. Having grown and evolved since many of these emotions were present in her life, she is now looking at them in a more objective and balanced way.
Stein is currently pregnant, an experience that has altered her life considerably. However, her approach to making music is one of the only things that has remained consistent: “I feel like a lot of the songs that were written I kind of approached [them] with a real lightness and I thought about the songs as really catchy little bits of music rather than kind of deep and meaningful, which is usually where I veer towards in my music.”
We turn to the two mandatory Karma! questions, the first of which is ‘if you or your music were a colour, what would it be?’ Stein picks ‘sky blue’, a colour that very much ties in with the visuals for ‘Blooming Season’ and her more recent work. As for a song recommendation for the Karma! playlist, she opts for a throwback track, recommending Beyoncé’s ‘I Care’.
She finishes off our conversation by saying “this feels almost going from the maiden to the mother archetype and it feels like this is my last little maiden project. [W]hatever comes next… I don’t know what it’s going to feel [like]. It’s an exciting threshold to be at.” It is indeed an exciting time for the artist and I, for one, am looking forward to seeing where life takes her next.
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